Arte Museum, an immersive art experience that just opened a location in New York City’s iconic Chelsea Piers, is setting its sights on Orlando’s ICON Park for its next museum.
A news release from ICON Park specifies plans to open a 30,000-square-foot Arte Museum in 2027 on Universal Boulevard, and a spokesperson for Arte Museum also confirmed with GrowthSpotter that the experience plans to open a location in Orlando.
Korean company d’strict opened the first Arte Museum location in South Korea in 2020 and quickly expanded across Asia before entering the U.S. market via Las Vegas in 2023. The attraction just opened its New York location this September, and also operates locations in South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Dubai. Collectively, the locations say they have welcomed over 10 million visitors.
Each Arte Museum includes unique works and designs, but all of the exhibits are built around the same theme, “Eternal Nature”, which reinterprets and displays nature’s many landscapes, spaces, and elements as an immersive art experience.
For example, the Las Vegas and New York locations feature exhibits designed around the themes of a flowing waterfall, blooming flowers, gardens, raindrops, a beach at night, the moon, a jungle, wildlife, and more. The exhibits are enhanced by lights and the sounds of nature, and even feature scents to further amplify the experience.
“We are proud to bring Arte Museum to ICON Park in Orlando, one of the world’s premier destinations for entertainment and family travel,” said Sean Lee, CEO of d’strict. “With Arte Museum, we invite guests to slow down, connect with nature in new ways, and enjoy an unforgettable sensory journey that bridges art, technology, and imagination.”
Each museum includes an exhibit that reflects the local region’s unique culture. The Las Vegas museum, for instance, features a “Garden Lights of Las Vegas” exhibit, which blends natural themes with certain iconic symbols of the city. The New York location has a “Garden New York is Art” exhibit that visualizes the Statue of Liberty and the city’s iconic skyline.
In addition to the exhibits, each location features Arte Cafe, which offers drinks and desserts in a space that is accompanied by immersive media art.
“Arte Museum is unlike anything else in Orlando,” said Chris Jaskiewicz, President and CEO of ICON Park. “This is more than an exhibit—it’s an experience that transforms how guests see, hear, feel, and even smell art. We’ve seen the positive feedback from guests in Las Vegas and are excited to add it here at ICON Park, where it will complement Blue Man Group and expand our entertainment offerings on the Universal Boulevard side of our park.”
Immersive art experience Arte Museum plans to open a location in Orlando’s ICON Park. (Courtesy of d’strict)
A recent development application filed with Orange County, on behalf of ICON Park owner Flag Luxury, requested approval to build an additional 104,655 square feet of retail, entertainment, and commercial space, as well as a 424-space addition to the existing parking garage on the northern end of the property. It’s not clear what tenants would occupy the rest of that space.
There are also plans to replace 71 parking spaces in ICON Park’s parking garage and build 33,868 square feet of retail on the bottom floor of the parking structure. The Arte Museum building will rise east of the parking garage, south of the Element Orlando Universal Blvd. hotel, and just north of where Blue Man Group is building a 500-seat theater. The opening of the Blue Man Group’s theater was delayed, but construction is underway on the building, and there is now a concrete pad down on the construction site.
Elsewhere in ICON Park, a three-story flagship Build-A-Bear workshop store is now under construction on I-Drive and set to open next year.
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